Lautman was born in Tel Aviv in 1936. He studied mechanical engineering at MIT and returned to Israel, where he was appointed Director of textile firm Sabrina at age 27.

In 1975, he established the first Delta textile factory in Carmiel, and was appointed to head the Industrialists' Federation Labor Committee. Delta currently employs nearly 14,000 people worldwide and has an annual turnover of about $700 million.

During the 1990s, Lautman was a major contributor to the Labor party. He was active in establishing various social and educational projects, among them projects for troubled youths.

In recent years he suffered from ALS.

Lautman was married to Rachel, who died in 2008. They had two sons: Noam, a businessman, and Adi, who passed away in 2005.